Name, first namePaula CermenoYear of birth1989eMailpaula.cerle@gmail.comUniversityECALField of Interest / research fieldProduct / Object DesignTitle of projectMestizaje: Crossbreeding and creativityAbstractIn Cusco, the Catholic Church of Spain removed stones from Sacsayhuamán, an important Inca Citadel, to build the foundations of the new city center, namely the Cusco Cathedral. Soon after, Spanish Catholic Christianity prevailed over the Inca religion.The most early civilisations in the Peruvian territory date from 3000 a.c. The last one, the Inca Empire, succumbed to Spanish conquest in the 16th century. This conquest resulted in ‘Mestizaje’ (a Spanish word used to express the phenomenon of mixing ancestries). In the first part of my memoire, I am interested in showing the influence of ‘mestizaje’ in Peru through local drinks and dishes since their ingredients and techniques can be traced back to different origins. Peru is not the only place where the circumstantial mix of ancestries has fuelled the creation of the new. In the second part of my memoire, I will go into how 'mestizaje' or crossbreeding can be a motor for creativity.TutorsAnniina Koivu, Brynjar Sigudarson